THE NE.W YORKER the environment is indicated by the on- going debates over the possibility of car- bon dioxide creating a "greenhouse ef- fect" that would alter the temperature of the entire earth; the possibility that massed industrial heat could change the patterns of air circulation and of precipitation on a continental scale; the possibility that the release of chemica] waste might contaminate the ground water of a large region; and the possi- bility that the volume of nuclear wastes might constitute a hazard for an entire CIty or state. All these new constraints point in the same direction. They indicate the need for an unprecedented degree of monitoring, control, supervision, and precaution with regard to the economIC process. Some of these safeguarding functions can perhaps be performed by the marketplace Itself, particularly as far as the allocation of scarce resources is concerned. But the market will not monitor safety, nor will it impose de- cisions about the rate of growth, or its sharing within or among nations, which accord with the moral and political, as well as the economic, desires of peo- ples and nations. Thus, the constraints of our time, the need for which will steadily intensify as far ahead as we can see, imply a powerful, and I think irresistible, force for planning the eco- nomic process In a way that has never before been necessary. What is new about the emphasis on planning is its purpose. Many aspects of planning are by now familiar. We plan in order to develop appropriate trans- portation networks, whether road or rail or air . We plan in order to develop rural, and now urban, hinterlands. We plan in order to carryon the fiscal and monetary and welfare functions on which economic life depends. To be against planning, as such, is to be for chaos, not for laissez-faire. But the plan- ning that will emerge from the present crisis will be of a different nature. Its essential purpose will be not to remedy the various failures that capitalist growth has brought but to direct, and at bot- tom to protect, the very possibility of such growth, as long as that can be. This will certainly requIre the formu- lation of strict policies concerning the use of energy. It must embrace an ever wider range of considerations af- fecting the environment. The processes of scientific development and technical application must likewIse fall more and more under the guidance and, where necessary, the veto power of govern- men t. All this may require allocations of materials, prohibitions against cer- tain kinds of investment or consump- 71 Slee in nachronism IS weeken n . Canopy beds and Queen Anne wingback chairs. French Bergère fabrics and Quartre- foil carpets. An embarrass- ment of chandeliers and sconces. Your room - French, English, Early American, Oriental- delightfully differ- ent from every other room Your hand-ironed laundry delivered in a wicker basket. Your needs attended by a retinue of loyal retainers Your neighbors: The Smith- sonian, the Kennedy Center, the White House. That's the Jefferson. Ad- mittedly it's not for everyone. Only for those who seek the perfect small hotel for a perfectly civilized, very conti- nental experience. At pleasantly anach- ronistic rates. Perhaps this weekend? . . . delightfully anachronistic 1200 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Tel. (202) 347-4704 - ..... =- ::::--..... ( ,, tr)., W A TERFORD. THE BEST REASON WE KNOW OF TO START THINKING ABO<.IT CHRISTMAS IN AUG<JST. It wæ bound to happen, and at last it has. For the first time ever Waterford has designed and handcrafted a 1978 Christmas ornament of full lead Waterford aystaL So why mention this in August? We knew you'd want to order yours now for November delivery. Just 22.50. Crystal. Send your order to Barbara Drake, Robinson's P.O. Box 14335, Sl Petersburg, Fla. 33733. Flonda residents add 4 % sales tax. Add 1.50 for shipping and handling on orders outside our regular 50-mile delivery zone. "'. "t _ "'t - .. . " , ; -......."" 4rÌ IT'S A FLORIDA FEELING Tyrone Square Mall. St. Petersburg. Countryside Mall. Clearwater. West Shore Plaza. University Square Mall. Tampa. Fashion Square. Orlando Altamonte Mall. Altamonte Springs